1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digging tool and more particularly to a device for digging small diameter holes in earth or sand.
2. Description of Prior Art
It is now generally agreed that prolonged exposure to the sun can result in increased risk of injury or even disease. This has prompted increased use of umbrellas and other sun blocking devices secured to the ground by means of a pole. If the pole is not inserted sufficiently into the earth or sand, the umbrella will be highly unstable and will easily be blown down even by relatively gentle breezes. Simply by pushing on the pole using body weight or rocking the pole from side to side will achieve only limited penetration particularly in wet sand. Pounding on the pole using a hammer or rock can damage the pole and there is the inconvenience of carrying a hammer to the beach or finding a suitable rock once there.
Another approach is that exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,126,369, 5,152,495, 5,122,014, 5,041,699 and 4,832,304 wherein the ground penetrating end of the pole is provided with an auger together with handle means to rotate the auger into the ground. Apart from adding considerable weight and expense to what is otherwise a relatively inexpensive item, the augers are pointed and have sharp edges that can easily penetrate or rip carrying bags and that also pose a risk of damage to vehicles and injury to persons.
Clam diggers such as the one exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,969 provide another approach to forming a hole but such devices clearly suffer from the disadvantages of weight, cost and of course simply the inconvenience of carrying such devices to the beach when its only purpose is to make a hole.
An earth perforating tool as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,739 would be useful but its size and weight clearly make it utterly unsuitable for the purpose at hand. Similar comments obtain with respect to the devices shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,881,602 and 4,974,682 and in Canadian Patent 582,692.
For any device useful to make sufficiently long small diameter holes suitable for anchoring the likes of a beach umbrella to find acceptance with consumers, it must be easy and effective to use, strong, safe, cheap, self-contained and yet sufficiently light and small to carry unobtrusively in a beach or sand toy bag without risk of damage or injury.